Clip board carrier device



Aug. 7, 962 E. F. MITCHELL, JR

CLIP BOARD CARRIER DEVICE Filed Jan. 20, 1958 iii/2L T. M/TCHELL,J?.|

INVENTOR.

ATTOQNEVS United States Patent 3,948,424 Patented Aug. 7, 1962 ice3,048,424 CLIP BOARD CARRIER DEVICE Earl F. Mitchell, Jr., 2420 HyperionAve., Los Angeles, Calif. Filed Jan. 20, 1958, Ser. No. 710,101 3Claims. (Cl. 28144) My present invention relates to clip boards having aspring loaded clip member for holding a plurality of papers against arigid board, to provide a mobile writing board, and it relatesparticularly to a carrier device that is attachable to a conventionalclip board for carrying papers, pencils, other writing materials, andthe like independently of the spring loaded clip of the clip board.

Clip boards comprising rigid, generally rectangular board members withspring loaded clips thereon for supporting a plurality of papers arewidely used wherever a mobile writing platform is required such as forcontracting work, inspection work of any type, school work, and thelike.

However, conventional clip boards have the disadvantage that they areonly capable of carrying papers, and not any other writing materialssuch as pencils, rulers or the like. Also, all of the papers carried ona conventionalclip board must be held under the spring loaded clipmember, so that particular papers cannot be set aside, but must befished for in the stack of papers under the spring loaded clip member.

Several prior art attempts have been made to provide a carrying devicefor a clip board other than the spring loaded clip member, for carryingpapers and the like. However, most of these prior art attempts to holdpapers independently of a spring loaded clip member involve containersthat were formed as integral parts of the clip boards, usually beingformed of sheet metal. Such containers were expensive, inconvenient tooperate, and were restricted to merely carrying a few papers, and werenot capable of carrying other writing materials. Further, such prior artattempts to provide carrier devices on clip boards were not usable inconnection with conventional wood and fiber board clip boards, or evenclip boards embodying a single metallic rectangular sheet, such as asheet of aluminum, but were required to be fabricated as a part of themanufactured clip board.

In view of these problems in the art, it is an object of my presentinvention to provide a clip board carrier device that is manufacturedindependently of the clip board, and that is easily attachable to theconventional clip board.

Another object of my present invention is to provide a clip boardcarrier device which comprises a sheath of flexible material that ismerely slidably engaged over the conventional clip board, this sheathbeing provided with suitable containers for receiving papers, writingmaterials, order blanks, invoices and the like.

Another object of my present invention is to provide a clip boardcarrier device of the character described which comprises a sheath offlexible material having suitable containers thereon, this sheath beingslidably engaged over a conventional clip board, with the flat frontside portion extending upwardly underneath the spring loaded clip memberof the clip board so that the sheath is firmly held in position on theclip board.

Another object of my present invention is to provide a clip boardcarrier device of the character described comprising a sheath offlexible material that is slidably engageable over a conventional rigidclip board, this sheath being provided with one or more pockets on itsflat rear side portion for receiving papers, writing materials and thelike.

Other objects and advantages of my present invention will be apparentfrom the following description and claims, the novelty of my inventionconsisting in the features of construction, the combinations of parts,the novel relations of the members and the relative proportioning,disposition and operation thereof, all as is more completely describedherein and is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of my presentspecification:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a conventional clip board embodying mypresent invention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section along the line 2-2 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevation view of the device shown in FIGURES l and2.

Referring to my drawings, I have shown my present invention mounted on aconventional rigid clip board composed of wood or fiber board. It is tobe understood that my present invention can be used in connection withany conventional clip board having a generally flat, rectangular boardmember and a spring loaded clip at the top. Thus, the conventional clipboard 10 shown in the drawings includes the rectangular board member 12,with a fixed clip mounting member 14 integrally attached at the topthereof, usually by means of rivets. A hinged, spring loaded clip member16 is mounted on the fixed clip mounting member 14, the hinged clipmember 16 being adapted to tightly hold a plurality of sheets of paperagainst the board member 12.

My carrier device 18 comprises a sheath 20 of flexible material, such asleather, imitation leather, plastic, cloth, or other suitable flexiblematerial.

The sheath 24} comprises generally flat front side portion 22 andgenerally flat rear side portion 24, the front and rear side portions 22and 24 being joined along their side edges 26 and 28, and along thebottom edges 30. One convenient method of manufacturing thesheath 20 isto provide a single, elongated sheet of the flexible mate rial, which isslightly wider than the rectangular board member 12, and longer than therectangular board member 12, and then folding this elongated sheet ofmaterial laterally, so that this fold comprises the bottom edges of theside portions 22 and 24 of the sheath 20. Then, the side edges 26 and 28of the side portions 22 and 24 can be joined together by sewing, heatsealing, or other suitable means.

I provide a slot 32 along the upper edge of the front side portion 22for receiving the fixed clip mounting member 14 when the sheath 20 isoperatively engaged over the entire length of the clip board 10.However, if it is desired, the sheath 20 may be slightly shorter thanthe clip board 10, in which case this slot 32 is not required.

I provide one or more containers in my carrier device 18, thesecontainers being provided at any desired points on the sheath 20. In apresently preferred embodiment of my invention, which I have illustratedin the drawings, I provide a large pocket 34 over the rear side portion24 of sheath 2%), this pocket 34 extending from a point near the top ofrear side portion 24 all of the Way down to the bottom edge 30. Asuitable flap 36 is provided to cover the opening of pocket 34 and isclosable by means of conventional snap buttons 38.

A similar pocket 40 is provided in the lower region of the rear sideportion 24, and is also provided with a suitable flap 42 that isclosable by means of conventional snap buttons 44.

It is to be noted that in the presently preferred embodiment of myinvention I provide a separate sheet 46 of the material which forms theupper part of the rear side portion 24, and which extends betweenone-third and one-half of the way down from the top edge of the sheath20. The major part of the rear side portion 24 is then formed by thelarge pocket 34, and simply comprises an extension of the materialforming the front side portion 22. A stop 47 overlies the edge of thefront side portion 22 adjacent the opening through which the boardmember 12 protrudes as shown in FIGURE 2.

It will be appreciated that any desired number of pockets may be formedat any desired point on the sheath 20, and that the particular pocketmembers shown in the drawings which form a part of the presentapplication are merely presently preferred pocket arrangements.

In the operation, it will be seen that my carrier device 18 may beremovably slidably engaged over any conventional clip board It), and allthat is necessary for this operative engagement is to slide the sheath20 over the clip board, lifting the spring loaded clip member 16 duringapproximately the last inch of travel as the sheath 20 encloses therectangular board member 12 of the clip board 10. The carrier device 18is then ready to receive any papers, writing materials or the like whichthe user of the clip board does not wish to merely clip in with thestack of papers held under the hinged, spring loaded clip member 16. Ifit is desired, some papers can even be slipped in between the clip boardand the rear side portion 24 of the sheath 20. However, I have found itmore convenient to utilize separate pockets, such as the pockets 34 and40 shown in the drawings and heretofore described in detail.

I prefer to make the sheath sufficiently small so that it will have arelatively tight fit over the rectangular board member 12. However, itis to be understood that the dimensions of my carrier device 18 are notin any way critical.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown anddescribed is my preferred embodiment and various changes in the shape,size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit of my invention, or the scope of my appended claims.

I claim:

1. A composite package for assorted papers comprising a sheath offlexible sheet material having a front side portion and a rear sideportion longer than the front side portion joined at bottom and sideedges forming a pocket having an open top, said rear side portion havingan extension at the edge adjacent the open top and folded rearwardly inthe form of a flap, a clip board assembly comprising arigidsubstantially rectangular board memher having a width slightly less thanthe width of said pocket and a length longer than said front sideportion and comparable in length to said rear side portion, said boardmember having an assembled position slidably received within said pocketand having a margin of said board member exposed, a hinged spring loadedclip including a mounting member anchored by application of the mountingmember to the board member at said margin, said spring loaded clipincluding a movable portion overlying and spring pressed against aportion of said front side portion adjacent said open top wherebysimultaneously to retain said clip board assembly in the pocket and toretain papers attached thereto both inside and outside said pocket.

2. A composite package for assorted papers comprising a sheath offlexible sheet material having a front side portion and a rear sideportion longer than the front side portion joined at bottom and sideedges forming a pocket having an open top, said rear side portion havingan extension at the edge adjacent the open top and folded rearwardly inthe form of a flap, a clip board assembly comprising a rigidsubstantially rectangular board member having a width slightly less thanthe width of said pocket and a length longer than said front sideportion and comparable in length to said rear side portion, said boardmember having an assembled position slidably received within said pocketand having a margin of said board member exposed, a hinged spring loadedclip including a mounting member anchored by application of the mountingmember to the board member at said margin, said spring loaded clipincluding a movable portion overlying and spring pressed against aportion of said front side portion adjacent said open top wherebysimultaneously to retain said clip board assembly in the pocket and toretain papers attached thereto both inside and outside said pocket, andat least one flat section of said rear side portion forming a rearpocket in said rear side portion with an open end of said pocket lyingbeneath said flap.

3. A composite package for assorted papers comprising a sheath offlexible sheet material having a front side portion and a rear sideportion longer than the front side portion joined at bottom and sideedges forming a pocket having an open top, said rear side portion havingan extension at the edge adjacent the open top and folded rearwardly inthe form of a flap, a clip board assembly comprising a rigidsubstantially rectangular board member having a width slightly less thanthe width of said pocket and a length longer than said front sideportion and comparable in length to said rear side portion, said boardmember having an assembled position slidably received within said pocketand having a margin of said board member exposed, a hinged spring loadedclip including a mounting member anchored by application of the mountingmember to the board member at said margin, said mounting memberincluding a stop overlying and adapted to engage the edge of said frontside member adjacent the open top and said spring loaded clip includinga movable portion overlying and spring pressed against a portion of saidfront side portion adjacent said open top whereby simultaneously toretain said clip board assembly in the pocket and to retain papersattached thereto both inside and outside said pocket, and at least oneflat section of said rear side portion forming a rear pocket in saidrear side portion with an open end of said pocket lying beneath saidflap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS405,874 Collins June 25, 1889 1,492,932 Orrell May 6, 1924 1,555,058Hogue Sept. 29, 1925 2 ,636,751 Carlson Apr. 28, 1953

